The stunning expressions of Egyptian ideals and aspirations that have made the nation the focus of study and examination for centuries, the art and architecture of the ancient people of the Nile exemplify spiritual concepts that gave testimony to the various eras, illuminating the national concern with the worship of the gods and the cultic beliefs in eternal life. Such images arose early in the Nile Valley and assumed new dimensions as the national culture developed.
LATE PREDYNASTIC PERIOD (4000-3000 B. C.E.)
Art
The people of the Nile Valley began producing art as early as the seventh millennium b. c.e. Decorative patterns consisted of geometric designs of varying shapes and sizes and obscure symbols representing totems or cultic priorities. Direct representational drawings, mainly of animals and hunters, came at a slightly later date. Evidence of these sorts of artistic advances among the Neolithic cultures in Upper Egypt and nubia (modern Sudan) is provided by the drawings of boats and domesticated animals, most notably at hierakonpolis, where some elements of the Mesopotamian and Saharan styles are evident.
Pottery of the Predynastic Period, as well as figures fashioned out of bone and ivory, initiated the artistic motifs that would be influential for many centuries. Vessels and palettes accompanied fine black-topped pottery, leading to red polished ware decorated with cream-colored paint. The light on dark painting technique made pottery of this period distinctive. While geometric designs were developed first, artisans began to experiment with the human, plant, and animal forms as well. An excellent example is the bottom of a bowl with entwining hippopotami. Such bowls can be dated to the NAGADA I Period (4000-3500 b. c.e.), also called Amratian (from el-’Amra). The ultimate achievement of this period was the mastering of Egypt’s most famous artistic medium: stone.
In the NAGADA II Period (3500-3000 b. c.e.), also called the Gerzean (from Girza), stone pieces were being fashioned with regularity. Some of the most notable examples of these were discovered in a cemetery in the Girza district, the Thinite Nome of Upper Egypt. Ivory and stone figures were carved in cylindrical form, crude in detail but remarkable for their size. Reliefs in stone and statuary were also used by the cult of the god Min. Technical advances were evident in the pieces recovered in Hierakonpolis (both in stone and faience), and in aby-DOS and halwan.
Stone PALETTES and maceheads appeared at the end of the Predynastic Period but with a clarified sense of composition. The Oxford palette from Hierakonpolis is probably the earliest example of this form, along with the Louvre fragment and the macehead of the scorpion King. Of primary importance in the development of composition, of course, was the narmer palette, a green slate slab from Hierakonpolis intended to serve as a tablet on which cosmetics were blended. The palette, utilitarian in purpose, was crucial nevertheless from an artistic standpoint. The style of later Egyptian art is also remarkably visible in the depiction of the military campaigns in the Delta on these pieces. Vitality, power, and a certain sense of drama are incorporated into the carvings. The palette thus was a model for later generations of artists. Increased regulation of human representation came later with the canon of Egyptian art.
Architecture
Architecture in the Predynastic Period evolved at the same pace as reliefs, painting, and sculpture. Writing and the construction of tombs and temples were the almost immediate result of the ultimate rise of political centralization in the late Nagada II (or Gerzean Period). The few remaining examples of architecture in this era point to the use of mud brick, demonstrated in the painted chamber “Decorated Tomb 100” at Hierakonpolis. Cities were being erected with walls, projecting towers, and gates, the designs of which were preserved on the palettes of this time and thus survived to influence later historical periods.
Of particular interest architecturally are the average dwellings of the Egyptians. The earliest abodes were probably versions of tents or roofless areas protected from the wind and rain by walls or thickets. Eventually mud was utilized to make walls, thus providing the models for the first actual residences. The mud, daubed at first on thatched walls, was later turned into bricks, sun dried and considerably more durable. Buildings were circular or oval in design, but innovations in wall constructions, such as battering (the process of sloping walls to provide sturdier bases), provided artistic flair and balance. Windows and doors were employed at the same time. The windows were set into walls at high levels, and both portals were trimmed with wood, a material that became scarce in later periods.
In Upper Egypt there were definite advances, but generally speaking, one of three basic plans was followed in construction. The first was a rectangular structure with paneled sides and a hooped roof. The second was a rectangular pavilion with a vaulted roof. The third was the SEREKH (2) design. This was a large system of elaborately paneled facings and niches. Flax chalk lines (lines drawn in chalk after being measured with taut ropes) were used early for construction measurements.
THE EARLY DYNASTIC PERIOD (2920-2575 b. c.e.)
AND THE OLD KINGDOM (2575-2134 b. c.e.)
Art
Although the Early Dynastic Period and the Old Kingdom are noted for the rapid and impressive development of architecture, as evidenced in tombs, TEMPLES, and the evolving mastaba, alongside the pyramid, the decorative arts flourished as well. Craftsmen produced exceptional pieces of statuary, painting, furniture, jewelry, and household instruments, which all benefited from experimentation.
Sculpture in the round (freestanding statues) fulfilled a ceremonial need for display in religious matters and provided representation of the royal lines. Most statues were made of limestone or granite. Sometimes wood, clay, and even bronze were used, but such materials were rare. Sculpture followed the same convention as painting and relief, displaying a stylistic similarity. Statues were compact and solid, notable for the air of serenity and idealized features that they imparted to their subjects. Such idealization was a key element in the art of the time, formalized into powerful conventions. Portraiture was not practiced on the elite, but realism emerged in the statues of the commoners or lesser known individuals. The eyes of the statues were sometimes brought to life by the insertion of stones into the eye sockets. Paintings and
A statue of the Old Kingdom Period pyramid builder Khafre that displays the flowering of art in the early eras of Egypt. (Hulton Archive.)
Reliefs displayed a religious orientation. As part of the decoration of mortuary complexes they depicted architectural and hunting scenes, paradise scenes, and depictions of everyday life, with references to the Nile River and its marshlands. One remarkable tomb at meidum depicts uniquely beautiful paintings of geese, portrayed with engaging naturalism.
At the close of the Fourth Dynasty (2465 b. c.e.) the art of depicting figures and scenes in shrunken reliefs was started. The outline of the form was cut sharply into the surfaces of the walls, leaving enough space to emphasize the figure. Shadows thus emerged, accentuating line and movement while protecting the forms from wear. In this era the solar temples (designed to honor re, the sun god, and to catch the sun’s rays at dawn) were being erected along the Nile, and artists began to depict the natural loveliness of the landscape and the changing seasons, as well as the heavenly bodies.
Wall surfaces were marked by red and black lines in the first stage of painting, allowing the artists to
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